Iowa and Nebraska target hidden-camera farm videos

FFLIVESTOCK

February 03, 2012

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Activists who go undercover to record animal abuse on farms and ranches could face criminal charges under new proposals from Iowa and Nebraska lawmakers, who say activists' videos showing suffering livestock are more about political influence and fundraising.

Lawmakers in both states have introduced measures that would make it more difficult for animal advocacy groups to conduct hidden-camera investigations.

Farm and ranching advocates said the measures would prevent misleading campaigns they argue unfairly paint entire industries as corrupt. Animal welfare groups said the proposals threaten their free-speech rights and would hinder efforts to expose abuse and neglect.

In Iowa, a measure introduced by Democratic Sen. Joe Seng and Republican Sen. Tim Kapucian would make it illegal to take a job or gain access to an animal facility under false pretenses. The bill was designed to pass legal muster and gain bipartisan support after the Iowa attorney general's office warned last year that a similar measure likely wouldn't survive a court challenge.

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That measure failed in the Legislature last year.

Kapucian, a former livestock producer from Keystone, said he expects bipartisan support for the new bill, which focuses on gaining access to a facility instead of videotaping. He argued such a measure was needed because animal welfare groups were trying to unfairly portray producers to turn Americans against meat consumption.

"The people that are doing these activities are working toward a meatless society," Kapucian said. "Their whole goal is to put a producer in a bad light."

Sen. Tyson Larson of O'Neill filed the Nebraska bill, which is set for a hearing Tuesday. It would require people who suspect animal abuse or neglect to report their suspicion to authorities within 12 hours, instead of the current two-day window. They also would have to surrender all video, photo and audio evidence to investigators, or face a felony charge.

Larson, who grew up on a ranch, said his proposal would force animal welfare groups to surrender their video to authorities right away, instead of using them to promote their cause.

"Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of farmers are doing things the right way," he said.

Others claim the measures are intended to hide animal abuse from the public.

Jeff Kerr, general counsel for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said animal abuse investigations can take weeks, and sometimes months, to establish a pattern of behavior strong enough to trigger a law enforcement investigation.

Kerr said PETA has conducted more than 300 investigations in the last 30 years, but none recently in Nebraska. Without sufficient time to document abuse, he said, farm and meat operators can claim the behavior was isolated.

"This would leave the inmates in charge of the asylum," Kerr said. "The 12-hour reporting requirement sounds good on the surface, but it's really a devious way to thwart the efforts of people who investigate animal abuse."

Chicago-based Mercy for Animals has distributed several videos showing conditions at hog and chicken facilities that received national attention. Some producers argued the videos didn't accurately depict the operations, but Mercy for Animals executive director Nathan Runkle rejected the charge and said efforts to discredit the videos were a tactic to distract from conditions at animal operations.

"We have contacted these legislators directly that have been making these false and libelous claims about these videos being misleading," Runkle said. "We've asked them to produce evidence, and none of them have provided supporting evidence, and that's because it doesn't exist."

Iowa Select Farms was the subject of one of the Mercy for Animals undercover videos. Company spokeswoman Jen Holtkamp pointed to a study by an Iowa State University employee which found no instances of abuse.

"It is clear to us that these activist organizations try to mislead and manipulate the public's perception of animal agriculture," Holtkamp said in a statement.

Cody McKinley, public policy director for the Iowa Pork Producers Association, said his group supports the new Iowa measure.

"Some of these videos that have come out have put producers out of business and we question them, because you only see little tidbits of what was going on there and not what else is in the big picture," McKinley said.